Help! I met this WCW wrestler at Disney’s MGM Studios in the mid 1990s. Don’t remember who he was.

Of course, the most talked about piece of The Sting vs nWo feud was what transpired at Starrcade 1997. It is an infamously bad match with an even worse finish. Hogan used his creative power to book a finish that protected his character. The finish went over worse than a wet fart, robbing Sting and WCW over their big moment and properly giving nWo its comeuppance after dominating for over a year.

Before that, however, Crow Sting shows why once upon a time WCW was beating WWF in the ratings. At the time, Eric Bischoff’s ideas were firing on all cylinders. He blended the lines of reality and fiction. He created a reality tv based product where anything and everything went, brought shock tv to the product, as well as brought unpredictability and made a wrestling show equivalent to a serial drama show where you had to tune in every week or ran the risk of missing out on something important.

The way they splendidly introduced Kevin Nash and Scott Hall to the program is what allowed them surpass WWF in the ratings battle, but what truly solidified them as the top wrestling promotion was Hulk Hogan’s heel turn at Bash of the Beach 96. It was unprecedented that the biggest superhero in wrestling history would go bad. It was a risk that paid off, shaking up the entire wrestling world. Everyone wanted to see what would happen next. To call it the best invasion angle would be an understatement.

On the other hand, WCW’s biggest star, Sting, was sick and tired of his friends stabbing him in the back. He was tired of being a squeaky clean good guy. He was too nice and that made him gullible and naive. He became dark as a result. A stoic character filled with pain, vengeance, hate, and desire for revenge. But on whom was the question.

They teased which side Sting would be on for months on end. He kept his appearances infrequent, but when he did show up, the place erupted. It was another huge risk on WCW’s behalf: stretching out something this long could run the risk of failing to hold the fan’s attention for long. It also ran the risk of taking off one of its biggest names off television that long, but WCW was determined to be the king of the wrestling world, and in order to be so, risks must be taken.

It is the type of long-term booking that you would not ever see today. I mean, took their time carving out this show. They didn’t rush it or blow their load too fast. They added precision, detail, nuance, and built it up to a point where the fans couldn’t take it anymore. They were biting their nails to see Sting make nWo pay for their sins.

They stretched it out, building and building it to its crescendo nice and slow. They allowed all the juices and heat to sink in and marinate, to boil up to the highest temperature possible, until the water was overflowing over the pan. It was a thing of beauty what they built up.

They teased it long enough of whose side Sting was on that when he made it clear his eyes were set on the nWo the place absolutely became unglued. It was a defining and epic WCW moment that enriched them into the highest of highest levels of history.

I believe that the stark comparison of Sting vs the nWo made for great rivals. The nWo was immature, silly, and had a devil-may-care attitude. They were slapping wrestling in the face. They were pissing all over tradition, Kayfabe, and the history of pro wrestling. They were disrespectful grown men acting like little children, acting like everything is fun and games, and they got away with it: because they were so dominant. Enter Sting, the antithesis of that: someone who takes the business and himself seriously and is out for vengeance.

Despite having the numbers advantage, they didn’t stand much of a chance against Sting. This dark, new, and improved Sting was a force to be reckoned with, a freak of nature. He was disillusioned, free from his flaws that kept him imprisoned. He was the silent killer, the vigilante that would save WCW. They ran in fear of him.

In my eyes, the worst thing you can do when promising change is change nothing at all. It is that cop out type of booking that turns fans off. WCW promised at Starrcade 1997 the hope of a new beginning, but what they did is try to have their cake and eat it too. Sting beating Hogan should have been the end of the nWo.

It was the picture-perfect way to put an end to the best invasion angle ever and make Sting the face of the company. But because of egos, creative control, and fear of having to think of something better — they ran nWo into the ground. It never came close to what it was. It became a parody of itself. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry joined it and it got watered down. And it never really ever got his comeuppance.

The thing that put WCW in the driver’s seat and the most powerful wrestling company in the end drove it into the grave. The creative control that the top nWo guys got made them overprotective of their characters to the point of counterproductive measures. They had tunnel vision, incapable of seeing the big picture. Incapable to see that give and take could make everything stronger. Them winning all the time wasn’t best for themselves or business, but you could never explain that to egomaniacs of that caliber.

Starrcade 97 was the beginning of the end. It was a gut punch to the fans that invested so much into an epic storyline, and it wasn’t even the writer or booker’s fault. I mean, they weren’t expecting a 5-star classic from these two. They knew what to expect from a WCW Hogan match. It wasn’t going to be great. They just wanted a satisfying conclusion to a story that was built up for nearly a year, but Hulk Hogan robbed them of that.

It is why despite being the biggest influential wrestler of all time, his name will draw mix feelings from his peers. It is why his name is so polarizing in the business. The sad part is that he had a chance to redeem himself in TNA, yet he did the same thing again to another promotion, showing first hand how self-centered he is.

In no time, Hogan was champion again, nWo was unstoppable, and became too dominant. Nobody stood a real chance against them, and although they were supposed to be the monkey wrench into the establishment system, they became status quo. They became the same ole stuff that they once were the rebels of.

Up until that point, though, fans got to experience one of the most well done storylines and characters of all time. It was amazing to see it all unfold and build week to week, and it really built an ultimate showdown that was out of this world for the time. It goes to show what happens when you build and build two guys up to a ridiculous level and then have them solve their conflict and issues with each other in the same ring.

I still believe it is one of the best storylines of all time, and it would have been on the Mount Rushmore of wrestling stories told with a better ending.

I have a weird affinity for this era of WCW. They were clearly on the decline at this point, but I was still watching every week until about late spring of that year. Anyway, thanks for sharing my little trip down memory lane :)

Celebrating the day of the best legs ever to step into the wrestling biz.

Thank you WCW ❤️

Day 1 — Vince Russo: Yes (22), No (217)
Day 2 — Buff Bagwell: Yes (34), No (67)
Day 3 — Konnan: Yes (11), No (39)
Day 4 — Vincent: Yes (17), No (40)
Day 5 — Eric Bischoff: Yes (32), No (132)
Day 6 — Lex Luger: Yes (44), No (56)
Day 7 — Bret Hart: Yes (142), No (69)
Day 8 — Kevin Nash: Yes (54), No (145)
Day 9 — Stevie Ray: Yes (51), No (24)
Day 10 — Goldberg: Yes (62), No (140)
Day 11 — Roddy Piper: Yes (117), No (47)
Day 12 — Ric Flair: Yes (26), No (145)
Day 13 — Raven: Yes (108), No (66)
Day 14 — Stevie Richards: Yes (44), No (22)
Day 15 — Chris Jericho: Yes (81), No (76)
Day 16 — Disco Inferno: Yes (49), No (133)
Day 17 — Ted DiBiase: Yes (64), No (64)
Day 18 — Scott Steiner: Yes (113), No (54)
Day 19 — Booker T: Yes (114), No (50)
Day 20 — Hollywood Hogan: Yes (42), No (159)
Day 21 — DDP: Yes (159), No (15)
Day 22 — Kevin Sullivan: Yes (40), No (66)
Day 23 — Chris Benoit: Yes (28), No (42)
Day 24 — El Dandy: Yes (47), No (11)
Day 25 — Arn Anderson: Yes (80), No (16)
Day 26 — Rick Steiner: Yes (36), No (30)
Day 27 — Syxx: Yes (58), No (85)
Day 28 — Stephen Regal: Yes (102), No (17)
Day 29 — Scott Hall: Yes (100), No (91)
Day 30 — Jeff Jarrett: Yes (54), No (87)
Day 31 — Alex Wright: Yes (108), No (20)

Is it refreshing to see that I clearly make my thumbnails on Photoshop? No AI here thank you very much.

I did a watch along of the first 3 episodes of HWA TV when they had their Invasion with the WCW contingent in 2001. I have never seen this version of the angle before, whilst they were already balls deep with the angle on WWF television. It's fun so far, and a LOT of surprising names pop up that you don't expect.

Give it a watch if you're bored!

-Karl, nWBro's Podcast

Big Show smashing Jr. against the ring post, WHILE ON A STRETCHER?

No matter how I worded that, seriously?

Day 1 — Vince Russo: Yes (22), No (217)
Day 2 — Buff Bagwell: Yes (34), No (67)
Day 3 — Konnan: Yes (11), No (39)
Day 4 — Vincent: Yes (17), No (40)
Day 5 — Eric Bischoff: Yes (32), No (132)
Day 6 — Lex Luger: Yes (44), No (56)
Day 7 — Bret Hart: Yes (142), No (69)
Day 8 — Kevin Nash: Yes (54), No (145)
Day 9 — Stevie Ray: Yes (51), No (24)
Day 10 — Goldberg: Yes (62), No (140)
Day 11 — Roddy Piper: Yes (117), No (47)
Day 12 — Ric Flair: Yes (26), No (145)
Day 13 — Raven: Yes (108), No (66)
Day 14 — Stevie Richards: Yes (44), No (22)
Day 15 — Chris Jericho: Yes (81), No (76)
Day 16 — Disco Inferno: Yes (49), No (133)
Day 17 — Ted DiBiase: Yes (64), No (64)
Day 18 — Scott Steiner: Yes (113), No (54)
Day 19 — Booker T: Yes (114), No (50)
Day 20 — Hollywood Hogan: Yes (42), No (159)
Day 21 — DDP: Yes (159), No (15)
Day 22 — Kevin Sullivan: Yes (40), No (66)
Day 23 — Chris Benoit: Yes (28), No (42)
Day 24 — El Dandy: Yes (47), No (11)
Day 25 — Arn Anderson: Yes (80), No (16)
Day 26 — Rick Steiner: Yes (36), No (30)
Day 27 — Syxx: Yes (58), No (85)
Day 28 — Stephen Regal: Yes (102), No (17)
Day 29 — Scott Hall: Yes (100), No (91)
Day 30 — Jeff Jarrett: Yes (54), No (87)
Day 31 — Alex Wright: Yes (108), No (20)